Family Cooking, The Good, The Bad, The Tasty!

Re fried beans: its a food that doesn’t look to appetizing most times, or heck even the name make you kinda cautious about it. When i was pregnant with my son those pregnancy cravings kicking in and i thought re fried beans on top of a plain Tostada with sour cream and hot sauce would be good. I never thought i would get hooked. Even when breastfeeding, and if i just wanted a snack, if i had re fried beans in the house and either tostadas, or tostidos i was set to go.

One night my cousin and i were up late watching TV and i started craving Re Fried beans, but i didn’t have any. And i was not in the mood to leave the house. So i searched the web for how to make Re Fried beans. I was in luck, the bean they use to make re fried beans is Pinto beans, i had 3 or 4 jars in my pantry i was one happy pregnant lady. So after finding a recipe i thought sounded good, i made my first ever batch of re fried beans. They were good, but not great, i ate them and they satisfied my craving. But i just couldn’t let it go that they were not like they are out of a can. So my search continued. After a couple months of configuring and researching different recipes, and making several new batches, i found a winner.

I shared this recipe with a friend one night (one who was skeptical of re fried beans), and after she tried it she sent me a message and said she was in love. So if you want to try and make your own, or you simply don’t have time, or don’t want to go to the store, here is a quick and easy way to make re fried beans. One day i will make them completely from scratch starting with dried beans and all. But for now this busy momma with stick with the quick way.

Another Positive is it’s inexpensiveness. If you keep all the seasonings in stock, and Garlic in stock like me, the only thing you really have to buy is the beans and those are 97 cents a can compared to $1.29 for pre-made, and a penny saved, is a penny earned.

4 Cloves of fresh Garlic finely chopped, or pressed (i recommend no less than 2 cloves if your not huge on garlic)

1 teaspoon of Cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons of chili powder

Pinch of salt

Here’s what you do:

In a 3 quart pan or large frying pan add in your olive oil

Once your olive oil is heated, add in your chopped garlic and cook for 30 seconds or you lose flavor, and run the risk of burning your garlic.

Drain 1 can of pinto beans, and add into your pan, and add the second can without draining.

Add in your seasonings

Cook until hot and boiling

While still in pan mash with a potato masher.

Turn heat to medium low continue to cook and stir consistently.

after about 5 minutes of cooking on medium low mash some more until desired consistency. (or if you prefer you can get out your food processor and blend until you get a finer consistency.) I prefer mine fine, but a little chunky. some people don’t want any of the chunks, and some want a lot that choice is yours to make.

I Hope you enjoy this recipe, let me know what you think, or any suggestions.